Kristeen’s Khaos

Well, it’s almost over. I only have one more day before I can say I’ve completed my bachelor’s degree. It finally hit me this week that WOW I’m going to have my bachelor’s degree. I think I’ve finally reached that point of being happy about it. I am very proud to have finally completed this goal and nervous and excited about what the future holds. I almost can’t believe that tomorrow is my last class meeting as an undergraduate student. And hopefully next quarter I will be beginning all over as a graduate student in an MBA program. It’s been quite a journey with many bumps and detours along the way but it makes this experience that much more meaningful for me. The only thing I’m kind of bummed about is that I have to wait until June for the graduation ceremony but it’s a small price to pay and I’ll definitely have my diploma before then. I am so relieved and feel like I am actually able to finally enjoy my accomplishment, even if it should’ve been done a long time ago and it isn’t the huge deal that I thought it would be. I am so grateful to my family for supporting and helping me to be able to reach this point. I guess I’m patting myself on the back and well, it’s about time! However, I’ll still be anxiously awaiting my grades this quarter but that’s another issue. For now though I feel a celebration is in order so let’s be happy and PARTY…yay yay yay!!!

My First Podcast: Diego Saves the Elephants

So I finally finished my very first podcast in which I read the book, Save the Elephants! (a Go, Diego, Go!  Ready to Read paperback book) by Alison Inches.  I was very worried about this project at first and had a hard time getting the hang of things but at the end of all of it I’m so excited to have actually completed the podcast.  It was by far the most difficult of all my assignments and it really did take my at least a couple of weeks to figure out how to work the technology but I did it and I’m so happy it’s completed.  I actually like the way it turned out but then I did spend hours trying to get it just right for my amateur standards.  I feel like such a cool hip person now that I know I can podcast.  I also feel a bit lame because I’m really so happy about this but maybe I’m overreacting…I’m known to do that from time to time.  You know it’s completely true that you value the things you work hardest for the most.  The class I’m nearly done with in establishing my online identity was such an educational experience so different from what I’m used to but I’m really so glad that I got the opportunity to take it and learn all these cool things that high schoolers do without having to take a class on it.  I’m laughing too because my daughter’s kindergarten class has a smart board that they just got this year.  Can you believe that…a smart board?  I hope those of you reading this know what that is…it’s a touch screen computerized board (like those CNN used to cover the election and breaking it down state by state).  Anyway…it’s awesome and I feel like such an oldie now with my kindergartener having a smart board in her classroom…how lucky are she and her classmates!  Podcasting will be ancient by the time she’s a teenager…I hope I can keep up with all this technology.  And I hope you enjoy my first podcast!

I hope you’ve checked out the video!  Isn’t it hilarious?!  Anyway, my Thanksgiving wasn’t quite how I thought it would turn out.  This year we decided to try something new and chose to have our Thanksgiving celebration on Wednesday rather than Thursday because of the issue that my sister and I have with having to go to more than one place for Thanksgiving.  We also tried something new in inviting our other sister and her husband to our Thanksgiving dinner which we haven’t really done before.  So my sister, my mom, and I with a little assistance from my 2 girls began cooking at 6 am in the morning and we weren’t done with all the food until 5 pm.  Our other sister was supposed to arrive between 4 and 4:30.  However, by 5:30 when everything was done and the presentation was all beautiful she still had not arrived.  So we decided to begin without her with her permission because she had said we could start without her.  Anyway, we ate and rested and cleaned up and had desert and by 7:30, our other sister still had not arrived.  My kids were tired so I gave them a shower and put them to bed.  But before then my oldest had been asking and then started crying off and on asking where her auntie was.  Well, her auntie never showed and left a text message around 8 that she couldn’t make it due to her husband’s work or something like that.  That really upset all of us because we had expected her and it disappointed my daughters too. 

Then on Thanksgiving my sister and I thought we’d get to have a more relaxed day since we had our Thanksgiving the day before but that’s not really how it turned out either.  Thanksgiving we usually go over to our dad’s and then my sister goes with her boyfriend to his family’s Thanksgivings.  We had planned 2 weeks earlier to be at my dad’s house around 1 pm but my dad called us that day to let us know that his wife wasn’t ready and not to come over until 2:30 or later.  So we said we’d be there around 4.  I guess that caused an issue with his wife’s schedule because he called us and said she wasn’t having an attitude about the time (I don’t really know for sure) and that he’d just take us out to eat.  So we ended up at Marie Callender’s for a couple of hours.  Usually I’m with my dad at least half the day and my kids were looking forward to visiting at their papa’s house.  Then we came home and just stayed at home.  We were pretty upset about that too.

Anyway, this Thanksgiving was kind of crappy because of these reasons and I’m not having a Thanksgiving next year like I did this year.  I don’t feel like dealing with these rude family members so next year I’ll probably downsize Thanksgiving but that’s okay with me.

I finally finished my YouTube video…yay!  I’m soooo happy that I actually did it.  Whoever said it’s the small things in life that count was so right.  I feel all kinds of stress relief because my video is done.  It is pretty close to what I had in mind but not exactly.  If I had wanted it to be exactly like what I had pictured, it would’ve been much longer and I think that would’ve been overkill for this project.  I can’t believe that I was actually able to do it though.  Yay…that it’s done!

My original YouTube video I wanted to do a timeline of both of my kids from birth to now but I quickly changed my mind because I decided I didn’t want my little ones’ faces plastered where just anyone could see them.  I actually may still do a video timeline for them but just not put it on YouTube since I know how to use Windows MovieMaker now.  Side note:  I’m so glad that I’m learning how to establish my online identity because I’m learning so much that I can do after just for fun!  Anyhow, since I didn’t want to put my kids everywhere I was stuck for a while as to what to use for an idea. 

I ultimately decided to use pictures of nature since they seemed the easiest to find without worrying about copyright issues.  Plus, I am a BIG fan of nature pictures…animals, scenic, whatever to do with nature looking its best.  I tried to find pictures of places and things that I enjoy the most and gave a good well-rounded sense of what exists in the natural world.  Then I had to weed out the best pictures from the others.  Then I put them in slide formation.  Then I had to find some music to go with the pictures and I knew already that I wanted the song One by U2 and Mary J. Blige.  After adjusting the music to go with the pictures, I then added the transitions for every slide, which is in a pattern…can you tell?  And that’s how I made my YouTube video.  It was time-consuming but it went pretty good because I had a plan.  Hope you like my video!

Before I forget, the picture at the very beginning is artwork entitled “The Presence of Gaia” by Josephine Wall, a British artist…I am a HUGE fan!

I just got done reading The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd.  It was one of the most fascinating books I’ve read in a long time.  An atypical book as to what I normally read since I’m a big epic historical fiction novel fan but I was really impressed with the quality of writing and the story was unique.  I’ve been wanting to see the movie under the title which stars Dakota Fanning, Queen Latifah, and Alicia Keyes ever since I saw the cast on Oprah promoting their film.  My protocol before watching a movie, if it is made into a film, is to read the book first if I haven’t already read the book.  I did this when I wanted to see Memoirs of a Geisha and I have to say that the book was much better than the film in that instance although I still enjoyed the film.  I hope that when I see The Secret LIfe of Bees movie I will like it since the book is really moving. 

One of the things most fascinating about the book to me was that one of the main figures in the book was a black Madonna figure, who was just a statue but her presence was so powerful to all the characters in the book.  Another thing I loved about the book was that the author put a precursor to each chapter in the form of describing a part of the life of bees which basically summed up the chapter except that the chapter replaced the bees with humans.  That was absolutely brilliant to me and the research that the author must have gone through really made a difference in the writing.  I won’t discuss much the plot of the story because there’s a lot that must be discovered for yourself but the premise of the story is based on a runaway white teenage girl with a black nanny fugitive who both get kind of adopted by a group of black women back around the time of the Civil Rights Movement.  It’s a deeply moving story about being lost and found, the effects of spirituality, and so much more.  Anyway, I can’t wait to see the movie as I have great respect for the cast members and think they’re so talented.  I highly recommend the book since it’s a relatively quick read but filled with such intensely detailed material you’d think you’d read an epic historical ficiton novel !

Here’s my favorite quote from the whole book found on p. 171:

“If I ever managed to get to heaven after everything I’d done, I hoped I would get just a few minutes for a private conference with God.  I wanted to say, Look, I know you meant well creating the world and all, but how could you let it get away from you like this?  How come you couldn’t stick with your original idea of paradise?  People’s lives were a mess.”  ~  Lily Owens (the white teenage runaway girl)

I’ve always wondered why it is that winter (my favorite season of the year) also happens to be the time when everyone seems to get sick.  I haven’t figured out what it is about winter that encourages the developement and spread of colds and/or the flu.  The reason I’m thinking about being sick so much is because I’ve been sick every month since my oldest daughter started kindergarten.  Plus, right now I’m sick too along with the majority of the rest in my household and it’s been driving us all crazy because none of us feel well and thus, we act crabby an awful lot around each other lately.  I like to blame all this sickness on my kindergartener but is that really the case?  My kindergartener has seriosuly been sick since the third week she started school.  She’s only been on antibiotics once so far and what I found so interesting about that was that the week after she finished her medicine she was getting sick again with a cold.  She’s sick still and I really don’t want to take her to the doctor because I don’t want any more antibiotics.  Did I mention that she’s allergic to penicillin (the typical antiobiotic) and this last time she had an antibiotic, a non-penicillin one, she had an allergic reaction to that one too?!  So I’m avoiding the doctor like the plague for her unless it’s emergency worthy or she gets worse.  For now, it just seems to be like a bunch of different cold viruses that she’s got to build immunity too.  I guess that’s the case with all of us too.  We’re getting exposure to the wonderful germs my kindergartener brings home…yay!  I know no one likes being sick and I definitely don’t.  I’m still curious though as to why colds flare up during the winter more than any other time during the year?

Job hunting is not what it used to be and that’s because it’s much harder than it used to be due to the economic recession (some might say depression) we’re in.  Being in a position of needing to find a job, I’ve been looking for one for the last couple of months every day.  I spend my free time searching as many online sites as possible for jobs.  It’s scary to me how few jobs are actually available right now and how many people are fighting to get the same job. 

You’d think getting your bachelor’s degree would help you find a job (and I have 2 AA degrees which also seem to be ineffective) but I don’t think that it’s helping me out in finding a job.  My bachelor’s will be in Liberal Arts and I’m not planning on being a teacher plus I’ve not worked in 6 years, which I think all this works against me.  I’ve literally applied for at least 15 jobs in the last 2 months, have tested for at least half of these and earned 90% plus on all the tests, call (more than once if necessary) possible employers about the position I’ve applied for, and still get denied interviews.  I have a 3.7 overall gpa and this isn’t helping stack the odss in my favor as far as job hunting goes.  Everytime I’ve been denied a job it’s because someone else was already lined up (call that an inside job) for the position or I didn’t have the work experience for the position (now that’s interesting because I know alot of people with work experience that still make for poor employees once hired and funny how being a stay at home mom is completely worthless in the eyes of the outside world but that’s another topic entirely!).

I know the economy is the worst that it’s been since the Great Depression and hopefully will be the worst that I experience for the rest of my life but life seems a bit ironic to me.  I distinctly remember turning down a job for $12/hr. in order to make finishing my bachelor’s degree the priority thinking that once I was done I’d be able to get a job paying more than $12/hr.  So I returned to college full time busting my butt to get a 4.0 gpa every quarter since I’ve returned for the last year and a half.  It’s frustrating that it seems not to be beneficial for me to have done this since it seems taking that initial $12/hr. job would’ve taken me farther than a college degree.  Even more interesting is that I’ve now more than doubled my school loan debt in order to complete this college degree that seems kind of useless.  Plus, the jobs I’m applying for right now are paying $10-15/hr. and I can’t even land those with a nearly completed bachelor’s degree.  It’s just discouraging and a bit of a pisser.  But I am trying to keep a positive attitude and pray that the right job will come along as long as I keep putting myself out there, which is all I can do.

Friday is Halloween and I will be taking my girls trick or treating.  However, my oldest daughter is going to be off from school that day also and I wanted to go to Oak Glen for my family’s annual Apple Farm trip.  It’s been a tradition in my family ever since I can be remember to go to Oak Glen at least once every fall and now that I have my own family I like to do the same thing too.  The Apple Farm has changed drastically from when I was a little girl.  It’s much more suburb like rather than rural and they’ve added more things like jumpers, pony rides, and a train ride to do rather than just stick to the apple farms, apple turnovers/pies, and the petting zoo.  None of this bothers me too much except that it seems to cost alot more than it used to in order to spend a day there.  Oh and the apple pies are absolutely the best you’ll ever have…made with fresh picked apples from the local apple orchards, homemade pie crust, homemade apple cider, and other all natural fresh goodies.  I’m getting sidetracked with thinking of the scrumptious apple pies but they are really that good!

My dilemma is whether or not I should go to the Apple Farm on Friday or not?  I’m worried that it might be too much excitement, not to mention to much sweets, for my girls that day.  I don’t like to go on the weekends because it’s way too crowded and it’s even pretty crowded on Fridays unless you go and leave before the early afternoon which we normally do. Since my oldest started kindergarten this year, I didn’t think we’d get to go but since she’s off on Halloween Friday I feel like we should go.  I guess we’ll probably end of going and hopefully the girls will fall asleep for a while on the way home then they’ll be re-energized to go trick or treating that evening.  Plus, I’m hoping since it’s Halloween the Apple Farm will have some special deals on apple pies and will be less crowded since people will be wanting to get ready for Halloween evening.  So I guess we’ll be at the Apple Farm on Halloween after all.  That should be fun…it’s the first time I’ll ever have been there on Halloween.

After such serious topics from before, I felt like changing to something lighter like my current obsession (other than chocolate )…MLP!  MLP stands for My Little Pony and yes MLP is definitely my new obsession.  Actually, it’s not really new because I had a nice collection when I was younger but then I got rid of my “little kid” ponies because I was too grown up.  It’s really too bad that I did that because if I had kept them they would’ve been worth some money today and I wouldn’t have to be re-collecting like I am now and have been for the last 2 years. 

Personally I don’t think I’m obsessed but rather just an avid collector.  I have at least 150 MLPs from all three generations with most my collection being comprised of G3s.  BTW…the generations are commonly referred to by MLP collectors as G1 (released early 1980s to early 1990s), G2 (released mid 1990s to late 1990s), & G3 (released 2002 to now).  I also have a small collection of about 15 custom ponies.  Customs are Hasbro MLPs that are transformed into whatever the artist (customizer) creates or gets commissioned to do.  Customs are my favorite right now because the Hasbro MLPs out right now are all the same repetitive “core 7″ ponies with just different designs…boring! 

I’m also a member at MLP Arena (http://www.mlparena.com if you want to check it out).  It is the coolest place ever…at least for me and others like me who are also addicted to MLP!  It is a site completely devoted to MLP and it has soooo many forums.  The forums range from customs to pony art to adoptables to international hard to find ponies to mini comic book threads to sales/trade to bragging about your collection.  And the people on there are some of the nicest I’ve ever met online…everyone is friendly, helpful, supportive, and encouraging.  It’s a fabulously fun place to hang out and chat about everything and anything MLP and more!

Sometimes I feel a bit strange that I actually really like MLP as much as I do.  I admit I think it’s a bit immature and I wonder what is wrong with me that I’m so into MLP.  My family always teases me about my obession for MLP and they think I’m missing a few marbles because of it and maybe I am.  But you know what?  I don’t care!  I LOVE MLP…so what?!  Get your own obsession ! 

Okay so I want to know what the heck is going on with our economy…are we in a recession or depression or are we just being dramatic about the whole thing?!  I don’t think there’s one person out there who’s explained it well enough for me.  Some blame it on irresponsible homeowners, others blame corrupt Wallstreet or CEOs, others blame the President and/or Congress.  Frankly, it doesn’t matter to me who’s fault it is…okay that’s a lie because it does matter so we can prevent this type of thing from happening again…but this is ridiculous.  How could no one have seen this coming?!  I mean there have to have been signs along the way but they were obviously ignorerd or we have people in charge that are really really stupid and uncaring about the direction of the US’s financial situation.  How many bailouts and billions of dollars do we need to dig ourselves out of this mess?  Because obviously that’s not even working…at least not any time soon!

Plus it drives me absolutely crazy that neither of our two presidential candidates (do people even realize that there’s more than just two…there are other parties out there other than just Democrat and Republican) seem to know any more than our current president about the state of our economy and definitely have no better plans than our current president as far as fixing the mess that we’re in.  If you listen to the presidential debates, although maybe tonight’s might be different but I’ll have to judge that later for myself, neither has specifically addressed just what they’re going to do to stabilize and improve our economy…it just seems like their respective parties’ dogma.  HELLO…that’s not what I want to hear!  I want to feel confident in the people running this country politically that they have some smarts about what’s going on and that they’re not just BSing like typical politicians which is exactly how I feel about both the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates…let me not even get into the VP candidates.

Anyway…Kristeen’s Khaos is no longer just about me…it’s about all of us.  We all need to get out the vote and tell our future president and screwed up Congress (can we replace these incompetent and most likely corrupt people) what we demand since they’re supposed to be working for us and not special interests.  BTW…please don’t tell me that only one party or presidential candidate is bought out by special interests…that’s just not the way it is in politics!  We, the people, must unite and take our voting power to change the political and economic system…it’s our inherent right!